the u.s. postal service says delivering the mail on saturdays must stop. if they are to survive. it's one of two american institutions in the news tonight for differing reasons in changing times. we want to begin tonight with nbc's tom costello in glen echo, maryland. tom, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian, no secret the postal service is up to its neck in red ink, handling 30 billion fewer pieces of first class mail today than just four years ago. and guess what? delivery of packages booming because we're all buying stuff online. this action is about just trying to keep the lights on. for people all over america, like 71-year-old lois sexton in tennessee, that mailbox at the end of the driveway has been a reliable connection to the rest of the world. >> that's my communication with the people i have my retirement with, my social security. >> reporter: since 1863, six days a week, rain or shine, letters, bills, government checks, newspapers, even movies, have arrived, even on saturday. now the 21st century with its e-mail, e-cards and e-pay, has come knocking. >> we cannot put ou
